7 Women at the RNC Tell Us Why They're #WithHim

The Republican National Convention kicked off to a raucous start on Monday, brimming with assertions that white people have contributed more to civilization than all other races, dramatic shows of GOP insurrection, and a plagiarism scandal. Or at least that's what the "mainstream media" and liberals would have you believe, said women at the center of the maelstrom.

While recent polls have found that Trump has some of the lowest favorable ratings of any GOP nominee in decades, women at the convention insisted that they are willing and excited to vote for Trump in November. Here, seven GOP women tell ELLE.com why they want to see Donald Trump in the White House.

Lolita Zinke, 53, asset manager, married to Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mt.)

I do see [Donald Trump] as the only solution that we have now. My husband is currently a [congressional representative] from the state of Montana. Prior to that, he was a Navy SEAL for 23 years. My son is a Navy SEAL right now and my daughter was a Navy diver. She has two young ones at home. Because I am from a Navy family, this is my personal concern. But it's also our nation's concern. We have made a lot of promises to veterans and...to our military families who are active duty now that need to be fulfilled. I honestly believe that our country is in dire straits [and that] has to do with [President Barack] Obama and [Hillary] Clinton. I just do not see her as being able to come up with foreign policy with my fears and my concerns for my military family.

I don't buy into the rhetoric that, "Oh, he said something on TV once a long time ago." That was a different thing.

I never watched the Apprentice or any of [Trump's] reality TV shows, so I am not familiar with some of the antics or some of the words that he may have used while he was in that role. But I believe that he treats women in business just as he would treat a man. I don't buy into the rhetoric that, "Oh, he said something on TV once a long time ago." That was a different thing.

Shannon Wright, 49, candidate for Baltimore City Council President

Living in Baltimore gives me a much more urban perspective than most other [people have]. When you see these issues, you realize that they boil down to two things—economics and education. If you fix those two things, you fix a lot of the things that are plaguing our urban cities. So when I look at the candidates out there, there's only one that has a proven track record of creating jobs, of bringing in business, of starting new businesses, of being able to mentor and grow an economy, and that's Donald Trump.

The elephant in the room is racism and sexism. Racism is something that has been in all areas of our society for some time now. There are still some areas of it, but here's the thing: I would rather the devil I know than the one I cannot see, that is behind my back. The thing with Donald Trump is he's straightforward with it. I would rather someone talk to my face and not like what they are saying, rather than smile to my face and then stab me in the back.

People in my city are hungry, they are losing their jobs, they are losing their homes. We have a homeless population that is just unbelievable. We need someone who can reconnect our cities, our towns, our country, so that it becomes the economic powerhouse that it used to be.

A woman cries during Monday's speeches at the RNC.

Getty Images

Vivian Childs, 32, minister

It's so easy to hear something and just hear a clip of it and not know the full meaning. I have been around him and I have been on stage with him. I was at three of his rallies and spoke with him before he came out, and that is just not what I see at all. When he came out of the rally, there were three of us that were ministers, and we asked him to come and pray. He put his hands up and said, "Let's do it."

I felt his spirit and his heart.

And we stood there. Two of us were black, and then there was a Caucasian man, and we all laid our hands and it was the most revealing thing I've ever [experienced]. I felt his spirit and his heart. When he talks about what we need to be doing in our churches, when he talks about what we need to be doing with our children, we he talks about women and the military—that's all about love.

What really stood out to me [about Trump] was his impetus to bring jobs back to America. As a college student, that is something I think about. We see a lot of students leave college, and they just do not have jobs. And just like, okay, where are the jobs? So the [focus] on that, on national security, and then on student loans—I think those are the three top issues as to why he stood out against everyone else.

We have this person that doesn't have any special interests, so he is just up there doing what he wants because he does not really owe anybody anything. I can see why people would have a reason to come after him. But I know him. And the Trump family is a really good family, so I am excited for Donald Trump to become the next president.

Lexi Swearingen, 39, senior producer of content for GOP-TV

I definitely don't condone any negative comments that have ever been made about women, whether that's from Donald Trump or anyone. I think that he can honestly surround himself by people who can influence him to correct his path when it comes to that. I don't think he's anti-women. I don't feel like that in any way.

I don't need a pro-woman candidate. I need a pro-American candidate.

I would have a hard time believing that Hillary Clinton is pro-women. Just because she is a woman, doesn't mean she's pro-women. And I don't know that you could highlight a laundry list of things that she's done to promote the female cause. To me, it's important that I'm a woman, but that's not first-and-foremost. It's important that I'm American. For me, there are very few issues that are male or female issues. It's more American issues. I don't need a pro-woman candidate. I need a pro-American candidate.

Silk: Diamond called me whenever he announced his candidacy and told me, "Silk, put on your TV. Donald Trump is announcing he's running for President." So, I turned on my TV and what I did was I listened to what he had to say. What he was doing and talking about solutions—it made sense. Why isn't our border secure? Why are people unemployed? Where has the spirit of this country gone? So then I called Diamond back, and I said, "Girl, this is going to be our next President of the United States, and it's been on ever since.

Diamond: He's been a politician for 11 months. What matters right now is what he's doing right now. He's making us aware of what's going on and how we can fix it in a common-sense manner. You have the current [administration] in office for years, and they've done nothing.

Just because we're black, doesn't mean we have to vote Democrat. We can come off of the Democrat plantation. We can vote for whoever we want to.

Silk: You know what? We don't want to hear about no soundbites. Tell me about his deeds. Tell me about how he took a million and turned it into 10 billion, how he took his brand and became an entrepreneur around the world. Tell us about that. If you ever want to know what's going on with the body of people, look at their heads. If the head is prosperous, then the body of people will be prosperous.

Diamond: And these tactics that the mainstream media and the Democrats continue to use are tactics that are old. Been there, done that, we know it.

Silk: You will never be able to feed us a narrative again. Just because we're black, doesn't mean we have to vote Democrat. We can come off of the Democrat plantation. We can vote for whoever we want to.

Diamond: Let me tell you something. We have an African-American president. Not one time have I heard him say, "I'm going to be the best president for African-Americans." But I'll tell you who does say it—Donald J. Trump.

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